Writers

Farr-Jones says Wallabies should ruffle feathers

Australia legend Nick Farr-Jones has called for the Wallabies to ruffle a few New Zealand feathers when the teams clash in Melbourne on June 30.

Farr-Jones believes the All Blacks are by far the best team in world rugby, and reckons strong performances by the Wallabies in the two upcoming Philips Tri Nations matches are vital.

The World Cup-winning skipper claims a strong showing against Graham Henry's side would not only give the Wallabies some much-needed momentum but may also play on the minds of the highly-favoured All Blacks come September.

"When we think back to '91 and '99, when we did win World Cups, our Test matches against the All Blacks, the three or four Test matches beforehand we had some positive results," Farr-Jones said.

"With the Kiwis having the weight of expectation of their country, if we can play well in Melbourne and/or Auckland, I don't think they'll sleep that well in Paris, the night before a semi-final."

Australia was beaten 22-19 by South Africa in Cape Town in its first Tri Nations match on Saturday, and Farr-Jones believes the time has now come to solidify combinations with the Wallabies' World Cup opener against Japan on September 8 fast approaching.

"I think the important thing now is, at least, the selectors should settle; it's too late to still be experimenting and changing," Farr-Jones said.

The former halfback has also thrown his support behind the George Gregan, Stephen Larkham, Matt Giteau and Stirling Mortlock combination.

"I think George is doing well enough and adds so much with leadership that I think he will definitely be the run-on number nine," Farr-Jones said.

"The other factor is that Mortlock and Larkham are obviously very comfortable with Giteau at 12 [second five-eighths], so that should be settled, they should now practise their combinations until noses bleed.

"There's got to be improvement from Newlands but it's a really good launching pad to go forward from," he said.